Card-index.



PATENTED MAY 5, 1903.

1). F. TABER. CARD INDEX. APPLICATION FILED OUT. 23, 1902.

2*SHEETS-SHEE'I' 1.

HQ MODEL.

1 WITNESSES.-

INVENTOR PATENTED MAY 5, 1903.. D. F. TABER. CARD INDEX.

APPLICATION FILED 001'. 2a, 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

no MODEL;

a f/VVE/VTOR UNiTnD STATES Patented May 5, 1903.

PATENT ()FFICE.

DAVID F. TABER, OF NE\V CARD-INDEX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 727,490, dated May 5, 1903.

Application filed October 23.1902. Serial No. 128,450. (No model.)

1'0 to whom it may concern:

7 Be it known that I, DAVID F. TABER, a citizen of the United States, residing at 14:56 Bedford avenue, Brooklyn, New York city, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented newand useful Improvements in Card-Indexes,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to card indexes and catalogues, and has for its object to improve the means for looking or holding in place the cards, to improve the drawer, box, or other receptacle in which the cards are placed, and to provide an improved follower and support I 5 therefor.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention, referring to which- Figure 1 is a perspective view, parts being broken away, of a drawer for a card-index to which my improvements have been applied. Fig. 2 is a top plan view, parts being broken away. Fig. 3. is a vertical sectional view taken just inside the front end wall of the drawer and on a plane indicated by the dotted line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detail View showing the locking-rod in elevation and end view and also showing the supporting-disks to which the locking-rod is secured, the latter being shown in elevation. Fig. '5 is a face view of one of the cards.

I have shown my improved means for supporting and locking the cards as applied to and supported in a drawer that is of novel 3 5 construction. It is formed of sheet metal, having the front a, back a, and the sides b b. The bottom of the drawer is integral with the sides I) and is formed with a central depression or channel 0, arranged between the two 40 parts 0 c of the floor of the drawer. Along each edge of the bottom is a flange 0, formed, preferably, by doubling upon itself the metal of which the drawer sides and bottom are formed. These flanges extend slightly below the channel 0 and serve as the supports or rests for the drawer.

The cards, one of which is illustrated in Fig. 5, are each formed with a sort of dovetailshaped notch 01 in its lower edge, and with the notched portions of the cards the locking rods E engage. Two locking-rods are used, and they are connected together, so as to be simultaneously operated. Iprefer that these rods should be formed of metal and that in form they be segments of a cylinder or tube. These rods are arranged to be oscillated about axes situated in the plane of the floor c of the drawer, so as to be moved into the depression orchannel 0' when in their inactive position, or to be projected above the plane of the floor and into position toenter the notches d of the cards, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, when in looking position. In order to support the locking-rods, I provide them at their ends with spurs or projections e, that are adapted to enter apertures f in supportingdisks suitably supported upon axes g, about which the locking-rods oscillate. The disks G, to which the rear ends of the locking-rods are connected, are preferably. plain and are of such size that their peripheriesare in engagement, though they may be of smaller size, if preferred. The disks to which the forward ends of the locking-rods are connected are constructed to constitute gearing by which both of the rods are caused to move simultaneously. The form of gearing which I prefer to employ is a pair of intermeshing spur-wheels G G of equal size, and in order to operate the spurwheels and 1ockingrods I employ a master- Wheel H, arranged to mesh with one of the spur-wheels. I prefer that the wheel Hshould be arranged above the wheels G G and midway between their axes. As the operating or master wheel H engages with but one of the inter-meshing wheels-the one lettered G- uniting the locking-rods, it should be arranged in a diiferent vertical plane from the other wheel G in order that the two wheels may be freely operatedwithoutinterfering 0 one with the other. This result I effect by making the wheel G considerably thicker than either the wheel G or the wheel H, as clearly represented in Figs. 1 and 2. By this arrangement I am enabled to make the gearing for the operating locking-rods very thin, so that in case a wooden drawer be used it may be mounted entirely within a chamber formed in the front piece of the drawer or where the drawer is made of metal, as shown xco in the drawings, it may be arranged close key-such as, for instance, .is used for wind ing clocksby means of which the wheel is turned. The means for operating the locking-rods which I have described permit the shafts J to be arranged in the vertical central planes of the drawers, thus preserving symmetry of appearance.

I preferably combine with the means for operating the rods a limiting-stop. As shown in the drawings, this may consist of a pin 0, arranged to limit the movements of the opering-wheel H, stopping it when the lockingrods are in raised position to properly engage with the notches of the cards and also when the rods are retracted and out of working position.

The follower or compressor L is supported upon a rod M, mounted in the channel portion c of the bottom of the drawer and midway between and below the locking-rods. The follower is attached to a slide N, that consists of a block 02, surrounding and traveling upon the rod M, a standard or shank at, extending upward from the block between the locking-rods E, and the head a, to which the follower or compressor is secured. I prefer that the compressor should be made of sheet metal and that it should have the front inclined face Z, against which the cards rest, and the rear vertical member Z. The compressor may be strengthened by an inclined brace Z, arranged between the parts Z and Z, when this is found desirable. The lockingrods being arranged upon opposite sides of the stem of the support for the follower or compressor operate to prevent undue oscillation or sidewise movement of the follower.

Besides the advantages which have been already pointed out, these may be referred to: The rod M, upon which the support for the follower or compressor L is mounted, is arranged in the same recess or part of the drawer that the locking-rods enter when in their retracted or inactive position, and by constructing the operating mechanism as described I am enabled to separate the lockingrods to any desired extent to permit the passage between them of the support for the follower without interfering with their operation.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and wish to secure by Letters Patent,

1. The combination with a pair of oscillating rods arranged to engage with and hold the cards of a card-index, and connectinggearing for simultaneously operating such locking-rods, of a master or operating wheel mounted upon a shaft located vertically to one side of and midway between the axes about which the locking-rods oscillate, and engaging with one member of the said conmeeting-gearing, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a pair of oscillating rods arranged to engage with and hold the cards of a card-index, a pair of intermeshing gear-wheels connected with the lockingrods and arranged to simultaneously operate them, and a receptacle for holding the cards in whichthe locking-rods are mounted, of a master or operating wheel engaging with one of the gear-wheels that connect the lockingrods, the said operating-wheel being mounted upon an axis which is vertically to one side of the horizontal plane cutting the axes of the locking-rods, and is midway between them, and a handle for manipulating the operatingwheel extending through the front wall of the receptacle, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with a pair of oscillating rods arranged to engage with and hold the cards of a card-index, and a pair of gearwheels for simultaneously operating the locking-rods, of an operating or master wheel engaging with one only of the said gearwheels, and arranged with its axis vertically to one side of the axes of the locking-rods and the gear-wheels which connect them, and midway between them, the operating or master wheel being arranged in a difierent vertical plane from that in which the gear-wheel with which it does not engage is arranged, substantially as set forth.

4:- The combination with a pair of oscillating rods arranged to engage with and hold the cards of a card-index, and the intermeshing gear-wheels G G which connect them and cause them to be simultaneously moved, the wheel Gr being thicker than the wheel G", of a master-wheel H arranged to engage with the wheel G and being situated in a different vertical plane from that in which the wheel G is situated, whereby the wheels G and H are free to turn without interfering with each other, substantially as set forth.

5. A receptacle for a card-index formed of sheet metal having a central recess 0' in its bottom adapted to receive the card-locking mechanism, and the flanges c at the bottom edges of the receptacle, substantially as set forth.

6. In a card-index, the combination of a pair of card-locking rods, means for oscillating the rods to cause them to engage with or disengage from the cards, a follower or compressor, and a support for the follower extending up between the card-locking rods, substantially as set forth.

7. In a card-index, the combination of a receptacle for the cards having a central recess c, a pair of card-locking rods arranged to engage with and hold the cards and to be turned into the recess when in inactive position, means for operating the locking-rods, a follower or compressor, a support for the follower or compressor, and a slide-rod upon 9. In a card-index, a locking-rod of segwhich the support is mounted arranged in mental shape having at its ends projecting the recess a, substantially as set forth. spurs e, in combination with supporting- 8. In a card-index, the combination of a disks formed with apertures with which such I 5 5 pair of card-locking rods, means for operatspurs are adapted to engage, substantially as o to slide situated below the card-looking rods, J. HOMER HILDRETH,

ing the rods, a follower or compressor, a supset forth.

port for the follower or compressorextending up between the card-looking rods, and a DAVID TABER' rod upon which the said support is arranged Witnesses:

substantially as set forth. LOUISE MCCORMICK. 

